Fence-post.



J. A. JOHNSON.

l FENCE POST.

11221101111011 11.21) 1.111. 2, 1909. nmwnwnn r1113. 1.1911.

1,001,274. Patented Aug. 22, 1911.

T1/) 9 5 H1 9 I 1!- M 3 1 -3 6 6 1 J a .III I nrrED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

{moon- A. Lmmvson, or orrawn, KANSAS.

FIENGE POST.

Specification of Letters iatent.

Patented Aug. 22, 1911'.

Application filed January 2,1909, Serial. No. 470,322. Renewed February 1,1911. Serial No. 606,009.

. To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JACOB A. JOHNSON,

a citizen of the United States,'residing at- Ottawal in the county of Franklin, State of Kansas, have invented certain new and useful'Impro-vements inFence-Posts; and I I do hereby declare the following to be 'a-full,

clearf'and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art '1 to which it appertains to make and use the same.

The present invention relates to improvements in metallic fence posts, and it has for its primary object the provision of an fl extremely .simple, light and durable post- .'constructed in such a manneras to permit the fence wires to be readily and securely fastened tereto at any desired distance from each other. To this end, the post has 120 its front face provided with cross grooves arranged to receive the wires, the latter being held in place therein by means of staples which are passed through vertical slots formed in the-post and opening through both faces thereof, the slots intersecting the grooves above mentioned,'the ends of the staples being bent laterally outward in opposite directions and clenched around pairs of shoulders formed on the rear face of the 9 post, thus securely holding the wires against displacement.

' Thepreferred embodiment of the invention 'is illustrated in" the accompanying drawings in which corresponding parts are designated by. the same reference numerals throughout the several views.

Of the said drawings, Figure 1 is afront elevation of the-post, showing the wires attached thereto. Fig. 2 is a'rear elevation of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a sect-ion taken transversely through Fig. 1 on the line 33.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, the post 5, which is, formed of cast lron, is shown as provided with a'series of longitudinal slots 6- arranged in vertical alinement, the slots opening through both faces of. the post and being spaced any desired distancefrom each other. Each slot intersects a vertical series of transversely-dis- 50,} posed parallel grooves 7 formed in the outer face of the post, the height of the series being equal tothe'length of the slot. These serles of grooves are designed to interchangeably receive the fence wires 8, there being, pref erably, one wire to eachserles, although this is not positively essential, since the number of WIIES' employed may be varied at will.

Each Wire is held 1n its groove by means of astaple 9, which is inserted in the corresaid figure, thus virtually bifurcat-ing the rib at intervals, and forming a series of pairs of parallel shoulders 12, which are located exactly at the inner side edges of the slots and have a length equal to that of said edges. The walls of the slots slope toward each other, so that the distance between the lnner side edges thereof is less than that between the outer side edges.

In attaching the fence wires, each is fitted in one of the grooves 7, after which a staple is engaged therewith and passed rearwardly through theslot by which the groove is intersected. The staple is then held in. place by a hammer or,similar implement held in one hand of the operator who, by means of a hatchet which he holds in his other hand, turns the projecting ends of the staple legs in opposite directions, and clenches themover the shoulders 12, the walls of which, as shown in Fig. 3, are oppositely inclined. The remaining wires are then fastened to the post in the same manner.

As originally stated, the number of wires employed is preferably equal to the number of slots, there being in such instance, one

wire for. each series of transverse grooves. It will be apparent, however, as likewise stated, that such number may be increased or diminished, and. it will be understood that the formation of the series of grooves just mentioned permits the wires to be arranged at equal or different distances apart fromeach other, since the wires may be fitted in any of the grooves of the several series.

The shoulders 12 formed by the slots opening through the rib 11 present surfaces against which the terminals of the staple legs may be readily clenched, the opposite I inclination of such surfaces preventing accidental displacement and disengagement of the staples.

What is claimed is: A fence post formed with a portion of its front face flat and with a series of alining vertical slots, the walls of each of which slots converge from the front to the rear of the post, and having a plurality of series of parallel transverse wire receiving grooves formed in the flat portion of its front face whereby wires disposed therein are held against movement longitudinally of the post, each series of grooves being intersected as an entirety by one of said slots, a vertical rib formed on its rear face through which said slots open, the walls of said ribs being continued laterally in opposite directions to form vertically disposed grooves on each side of said ribs, in combination with a one piece staple adapted to receive a wire and 'pass through the slot and having its ends bent laterally in opposite directions to follow respectively the transverse contours of the sides of said rib and the adjacent grooves; said staple serving to draw the wire received thereby inwardly and maintain same positively seated in a wire receiving groov j r In testimony whereof, I afiix my ture, in presence of two witnesses.

JACOB A. JOHNSON. Witnessesi W. H. CLARK, M. E. WILKINSON.

signa- 

